Fifteen Boxes of Christmas
by CreativityFlow
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Peter and Sam have certain traditions that must be held. Except, that giant box looks awfully suspicious, and Sam is so not amused by Peter's idea. Based on a Tumblr Christmas AU prompt (that I won't say because, hello, spoiler).


They never did Christmas on Christmas.

Christmas Day was for friends and family, where the team gathered at Aunt May's to eat, exchange gifts, and catch up.

Christmas Eve was for them. They exchanged gifts the night before, binge watched every Christmas movie on their DVR, drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. It was a tradition, and one they didn't plan on changing any time soon.

Despite this, Sam felt a change this year. Peter was extra secretive about the Christmas gifts, jumpy at the mention of gift giving and sending nervous looks towards the tree during dinner.

Sam didn't push, but he was starting to get worried.

"If you're worried about Aunt May's present-"

"It's not that," Peter said. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

He tried not to, really. But he continued to fret until about a week before Christmas, a huge box wrapped in shiny red paper found its way under the tree.

Peter was making breakfast (an omelette - the only thing he could make), when Sam came in that morning, and the dark haired man spent a good two minutes gaping at the massive thing.

"You alright there?" Peter asked, coming up behind his boyfriend and resting his chin on his head.

"Pete... I know I said we needed a new fridge, but-"

Peter laughed. "I know better than to buy kitchen appliances without you."

"Then what the hell-?"

Peter kissed him, grinned, and brought him to the kitchen to eat.

Sam spent the next week pestering Peter for a clue (he only got a smirk, the damn Web Head), and once or twice tried sneaking to the tree if only to look at it.

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, it was taking all of Sam's willpower to not rip the thing open.

Unfortunately, Peter insisted on opening his first.

Sam (with the help of the Guardians) had gotten him some samples from Raxon, a planet two galaxies away from Earth and tickets to a lecture by some hot shot scientist Peter had been hinting at.

Peter gushed over the tickets and gave Sam a breathtaking kiss for the samples.

Then Peter dragged the huge box to the center of the living room.

Sam reached for the wrapping paper, but Peter gripped his arm.

"You love me, right?"

Sam blinked and rolled his eyes. "Would I be here if I didn't?" He leaned forward and pecked Peter on the lips. "Webs, I've loved you since Senior year."

Peter smiled and motioned for Sam to continue.

He ripped away the paper, leaving a brown box. On the side was an illustration of a large, French doored fridge.

Sensing his confusion, Peter smirked. "Open it."

So he did. Inside was another box, slightly smaller and covered in paper with little Spider-Man's on it.

Sam groaned. "Is this pay back for the scavenger hunt I made you do for your birthday?"

"Something like that," Peter shrugged. "Open it."

With a sigh, Sam removed the smaller box from the bigger box and opened that one too.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, eyeing the box covered in Captain America paper.

"Keep going," Peter urged.

The boxes started piling up, Sam had moved to Peter's lap, and both were swimming in wrapping paper. Peter laughed at every new box, and Sam cursed at every wrapping paper.

"Peter, I swear, if this turns out to be just an endless line of boxes, I'm using them to move out." He groaned as yet another box led to another. "Where did you even find all of these?"

Peter laughed again, putting his chin on Sam's shoulder.

"You'd be surprised by all the different sizes of boxes we get at the lab," he chuckled. "No one will miss them."

"I miss them not being in my house," Sam griped, ripping open another box and hanging his head. "How many boxes do I have left?"

He felt a shrug. "I dunno. I didn't number them. It's bad enough I had to wrap all of them."

"Funny," Sam mumbled, "I don't feel sorry for you."

Fifteen. Fifteen boxes, and Sam was so annoyed, he didn't take into account the stillness that suddenly overcame Peter or the quietness that settled over the house.

The wrapping paper was gold, and the bow on top was blue. It was the only box that even had a bow, so Sam took that as a good sign.

Ten boxes ago, he would have tore through the paper without thought. Now, though, the atmosphere caught up with him, and he held the small box in his fingers.

Slowly, carefully, he took off the bow, and with more care than even he thought possible, he unwrapped the gift, being sure not to rip the paper.

With the shiny paper out of the way, Sam was faced with a small, black box.

He was frozen. He tried to open the box, but his hands were shaking, the world was spinning, and was he even breathing?

Faintly, he noticed Peter reaching around him and plucking the box from his fingers. Peter's breath tickled his neck, and slowly, as if not wanting to startle Sam, he opened the velvet box.

There, nestled between the folds, was a silver band.

The two men sat in silence for a few moments, and Sam knew he should say something, because hello.

"Sam?" Peter prodded.

It was a whisper, but in the quiet space, it was a firecracker. It echoed around him, and Sam saw stars.

His mind was blank, and maybe that's why he was just as surprised as Peter when he whirled around and attacked his lips with his.

"Yes," Sam breathed. "Yes."

His fingers were in Peter's hair, Peter's fingers dug into his hips, their lips battled for dominance, and somehow, Sam was straddling Peter.

"I didn't even ask," Peter managed, nuzzeling into Sam's neck.

"As long as the question includes the words 'marry' and 'me,' consider it asked." Sam pulled Peter's face back to his, kissing him long and deep, and didn't pull away until he was gasping. "I sat here unwrapping boxes for over an hour. If I have to wait another minute just so you can ask-"

Peter didn't let him finish, pulling his boyfriend - fiance - back to lips. This was lighter, sweeter, innocent. When they pulled away, Peter had taken the ring out of the box and was slipping it on to Sam's finger.

Sam interlocked their fingers, and he smiled at the sight.

"I love you," he said. "But you're still a shit head for making me unwrap fifteen boxes."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I saw an opportunity. I took it."

"Oh, I can't wait until your birthday," Sam cackled. "I am so getting revenge."

"We're getting married," Peter reminded. "You'll have plenty of time."

Sam smiled, burrowing into Peter's chest. "Yeah," he agreed, "plenty of time."


End file.
